Myanmar military airstrike on Kyauktaw market kills at least 50 people

Strike on Kyauktaw market

A Myanmar military aircraft dropped bombs on a crowded wholesale market and a nearby bridge in Kyauktaw township around noon on Monday. The attack targeted the India Market and the Kassapanadi bridge, located roughly 340 kilometres west of Mandalay. Witnesses reported that the fighter jet released bombs during peak shopping hours as vendors and customers gathered to trade goods. Trucks carrying food and consumer supplies imported from neighboring India were unloading at the commercial hub when the explosions occurred. Video footage and photographs from the site showed burning market stalls, destroyed vehicles, and structural damage to the nearby bridge.

Civilian casualties and rescue response

Initial reports indicated that 33 people died at the scene, but local rescue workers and authorities later confirmed that the death toll rose to at least 50. An additional 58 people sustained injuries, including 22 victims with severe trauma. The casualties included merchants, shoppers, and passing pedestrians from both the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist and Rohingya Muslim communities. Kyaw Than, a local resident whose 19-year-old daughter Su Chay was shopping at the market during the attack, described finding incinerated bodies across the blast area. Rescue worker Wai Hun Aung noted that the market serves as the primary wholesale distribution hub for the entire state.

“This is a market used by civilians. Bombing a place like this is killing civilians.”

“This is one of the most severe airstrikes in Rakhine.”

Rebel territorial control and retaliation pledge

Kyauktaw is under the administrative control of the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed organization fighting for self-determination in Rakhine State. Following the bombardment, Arakan Army spokesman Khaing Thu Kha characterised the operation as a war crime and pledged that rebel forces would retaliate against those responsible for ordering and conducting the attack. The Myanmar military did not release an immediate statement regarding Monday's incident, though it has previously asserted that its air operations target only armed insurgents. The strike follows an earlier bombing in December, when military aircraft hit a hospital in Mrauk-U township, killing 34 people and injuring 80 others.

“A.A. will soon retaliate against everyone involved in the airstrikes.”

Escalating conflict across Rakhine

The Arakan Army launched an offensive across western Myanmar in November 2023, capturing a regional military headquarters and taking control of 14 of Rakhine's 17 townships. In response to territorial losses, Myanmar's military junta imposed transport blockades and trade restrictions that isolated Rakhine from the rest of the country, leaving local populations dependent on goods imported through border routes. United Nations data shows that intense fighting in Rakhine has displaced nearly 500,000 people. Across Myanmar, more than 100,000 people have died in armed conflict since the military deposed the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February 2021, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. In a separate action, state media announced the arrest of 21 individuals accused of transferring funds to an online platform linked to the opposition National Unity Government.